St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Historic St. Paul's Episcopal Church
of Watertown, Wisconsin

was severely damaged by fire on July 25 2005. The blaze was caused by a lightning strike that Saturday afternoon, which created an opportunity for combustibles to smolder until it found enough fuel and air to burn.

St Paul's Church was built in 1859 and is listed on both the National Registar of Historic Places and the Wisconsin State Historical Society Register. Because the building is on the national and state historical registers, the architecture must be restored to its original state.

St. Paul’s has many treasured historic stained glass windows; fortunately only two stained glass windows in the choir loft and one door entry panel were damaged by the fire and water damage.  The artisans of Oakbrook Esser Studios were called to the scene to remove and recover the damaged windows.
 
We always try to get the glass out of the building right away; first and foremost preserving as much of the original stained glass as possible. With artistic skill and attention to detail we carefully match glass color and the hand-painted techniques used by the original artists. The stained glass “Angel” windows were completely dismantled and re-glazed in the studio during the meticulous restoration process before being re-installed just before Christmas 2005.

Stained glass windows have played a large part in St. Paul’s spiritual history; it is very rewarding to help preserve this very meaningful artwork for future generations. 

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